Power-driven conveyors are used to convey items. Infeed assemblies are used to transition items onto the conveyor as the conveyor belt moves from a returnway to a carryway above the returnway. Outfeed assemblies are used to transition items off of the conveyor as the belt moves from the carryway to the returnway. A drive moves the conveyor belt through the conveying circuit. For example, drive sprockets mounted on a rotatable shaft may engage and drive the conveyor belt along the conveying circuit.
Currently, it is difficult to either clean or maintain cleanliness in conveyors and-or to disassemble certain components for cleaning, replacement or maintenance.
In addition, small transfers of items are generally limited to flat belts that operate using pretension. The pretension, combined with the velocity of the infeed and-or outfeed rollers, results in a short life span for the rollers or static nose bars that guide the belts. Replacement of worn components leads to downtime of the conveyor and can be difficult.